Panel Backs Ship Overhaul, Projects In Va.

July 15, 1989|By ROBERT BECKER Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Mirroring earlier action by its counterpart in the House, the Senate Armed Services Committee authorized money for overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise as well as $152 million in military construction projects in Virginia.

In announcing the $1 billion-plus overhaul Friday, which will take place at Newport News Shipbuilding, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., ranking minority member of the committee, said the approval of the refueling indicates "the committee's support for a high level of active-duty aircraft carriers."

The Senate committee also approved funds for 23 construction projects in the Commonwealth, including $8.5 million to begin the first phase of the $330 million replacement for Portsmouth Naval Hospital, $18.5 million for a survey support facility at Cheatham Annex and $21 million for missile magazines at Yorktown Naval Weapons Stations.

The House Armed Services Committee approved similar measures at the end of June.

The Senate action comes as both houses prepare for the long debate this month over controversial defense programs such as the B-2 stealth bomber, the V-22 "Osprey" and the F-14D "Tomcat" fighter.

On the House side, amendments to the authorization bill have begun surfacing in anticipation of the floor debate.

Rep. Herb Bateman, R-1st, has offered one amendment to revive funding for another Los Angeles-class submarine and another amendment calling for $325 million for advanced funding for a future SSN-21 Seawolf submarine.

Efforts to restore a second Los Angeles-class submarine to the 1990 budget were defeated in the House Armed Services Committee vote last month.

Before any such provisions could be added to the $295 billion defense authorization bill, both houses must approve the bill and any changes. Differences between the two versions must be resolved in a conference commitee before going to the president for approval.

Sharp differences between House and Senate notions about defense priorities have already begun to emerge.

The House stripped $800 million from B-2 research and procurement accounts. The Senate, however, cut only $300 million from the B-2 program, but said that full production would be delayed until the first one passed a series of flight tests.

Warner said "there would be no obligation" to purchase the bomber until the Air Force had successfully completed 50 to 75 hours of flight testing and the plane's stealth features had been certified.

"In other words, this is really putting some teeth in `fly before you buy,'" Warner said.

Unlike the House, the Senate Armed Services Committee supported seven of the eight weapons cancellations included in the budget proposal of Defense Secretary Dick Cheney.

Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he supported Cheney's "tough decisions" on canceling the F-14 and the AH-64 helicopter.

Nunn, however, said the V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft, designed to take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane, merited more study.

"We hear a lot of commercial interest in the V-22 program," Nunn told reporters Friday afternoon. "But we don't have any money coming into it from any contractors and any of the peo ple who might be interested commercially. So we are going to take another look at that program next year; in the meantime, keep it alive."

Accordingly, the Senate committee restored $255 million to continue research and development.

During its mark-up, the House Armed Services Committee had restored $157 million to begin buying the V-22, with $351 million for continued research.

Nunn acknowledged that the Senate version of the defense bill would face lively opposition once debate begins.

"We'll have some real battle on the floor," Nunn said. "But these are important decisions and I suppose there ought to be battles."